Abstract
Dual enrollment, where students take college classes while in high school, is a promising strategy to increase postsecondary access and attainment. Dual enrollment may be particularly important for rural students, who often have limited access to advanced coursework and are less likely to attend college. However, little is known about how dual enrollment is related to postsecondary outcomes for rural students. Using nationally representative data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009, this study applied linear and multinomial logistic regression to explore the relationship between dual enrollment, socioeconomic status (SES), and postsecondary outcomes for subpopulations consisting of rural/town and city/suburb students. After controlling for student demographic characteristics, math self-efficacy, student educational expectations, cultural capital, and prior academic achievement, I found differences in dual enrollment outcomes for rural/town and city/suburb students. Rural and town students who took dual enrollment classes in high school were more likely to attend college than those who did not. The effect was greater for students with lower SES, which suggests dual enrollment can be a promising strategy for increasing postsecondary enrollment for socioeconomically disadvantaged rural students. For city and suburb students, dual enrollment was associated with higher 1st-year postsecondary GPA and increased odds of postsecondary persistence, and these effects did not vary with SES. Prior academic achievement and SES were significantly related to 1st-year postsecondary GPA, odds of postsecondary enrollment, and odds of persistence in 4-year institutions for both rural/town and city/suburb students. Socioeconomically disadvantaged students appeared to benefit as much or more from dual enrollment as more advantaged students, which suggests targeted dual enrollment programs that increase participation of low-income students can be a tool for reducing socioeconomic disparities in college access.